SoxBlanco

If I were the Sox and I was going to pursue Cole, I would act exactly this way and tell Stone and Merkin to say exactly what they said. After being let down with Machado, I would not want the same thing to happen. Now, that doesn't mean we ARE pursuing Cole. We very well might not have any interest in him. I just think that this is the perfect way to act if we were going after him.

Agreed. And that's why I think we should either go with a one year option (Calhoun or Dickerson), or take a shot with Castellanos (he can play RF for one year and then move to DH). Whenever there are no obvious solutions, I think you need to just fix it for one year and try for something else next year.

Yes. We will know in an hour and a half (or earlier).

Come on. If the Sox offered 3 years for $20 million total, you think Jose should take it?

In your opinion, how much money would be the breaking point where Jose would be better off taking the QO? Let's assume a 3 year deal, for the sake of discussion. If the Sox offer 3 years at $30 million, should Jose take that or the QO?

If I'm the Sox, I would tell Jose that their best offer is 2 years for $24 million with a 3rd year team option. He can choose between that and the QO.

If you are Abreu, do you take the QO or an offer of 3 years for $33 million, if that's what we are offering?

Jose wants to be with the Sox, and the Sox want him back. If he gets insulted or impatient, he really doesn't have any other options. His offers from other clubs will be lower than ours. He will either take the QO, or he will end up signing for something like 2 or 3 years at 12 or 13 million per.

Yeah, not smart. I’m hoping we make enough improvement this year where next offseason we can throw a blank check at Betts as the final piece to push us over the top. I really want Castellanos this year. He can play RF in 2020 (with some DH sprinkled in) and then move to DH in 2021 and 2022 if we can grab a legit right fielder. A realistic scenario is that we sign Wheeler and Castellanos this year (Grandal would be a bonus). Then we sign Betts next year, and we are looking at this for 2021: Lineup: 1. Robert CF 2. Moncada 3B 3. Betts RF 4. Eloy LF 5. Castellanos DH 6. Vaughn 1B 7. McCann/Collins C 8. Anderson SS 9. Madrigal 2B Rotation: 1. Giolito 2. Wheeler 3. Kopech 4. Cease 5. Rodon/López/Dunning

I assume Collins would be part of the trade for Joc?

Agreed. I didn't ask the original question. I was just pointing out that the reply "because their payroll is 20 million dollars" was not an answer to the question asked by YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES.

That answers the question, "Why would the Marlins want to sign Abreu?"...but it doesn't seem to answer the question, "Why would Abreu want to go to the Marlins?"

An infield of Moncada/TA/Madrigal combined with an outfield of Jimenez/Robert/Betts would be pretty cool fucking awesome.

Pretty interesting quote, in my opinion. I don’t think we have much ammo if we don’t want to move Robert, Madrigal, or Vaughn. We’ll either have to package guys like Walker, Stiever, and Dunning together, or we’ll be taking on some bigger contracts and won’t have to give up much. Or perhaps someone like Collins gets moved.

The Astros are the MLB version of the Patriots.

Agreed. I think the most realistic scenario where I would still be pleased would be something like Wheeler, Grandal, Calhoun, 5th starter, bullpen piece.

Which of these offseasons would you guys rather have: Option 1: Cole, Hamels, Encarnacion, Calhoun, Will Smith Option 2: Wheeler, Hamels, Grandal, Castellanos, Will Smith

No worries. Cheers!

Then how come that word shows up in the quoted section of your post?

Perhaps you’re not familiar with the word “seemingly”?

Merkin has gone out of his way several times to say that we shouldn’t expect guys like Cole or Rendon. And that NBCS article above includes quotes from last winter...it’s nothing new. Nobody is talking big in terms of the big three free agents. They are talking big in terms of spending money to fill several holes.

Who is talking big? What quotes are you referring to?

The quotes are from last winter. What exactly are you upset about?

If we are willing to spend that much money on one player, spend it on Cole.

Agreed. This is how I envision it at some point... 1. Robert CF 2. Moncada 3B 3. Eloy LF 4. Grandal C 5. Castellanos RF 6. Abreu 1B 7. Collins DH 8. Anderson SS 9. Madrigal 2B